Looking through Apocalypse 6, especially before the Exegesis has come out, I get an excited-yet-queasy feeling that I think many others share. A lot of the complaints (mostly in other places) are really centered around "but it doesn't look like Perl". I recently realized that when people say that, they really mean "but it doesn't look like Perl 5."

Clearly, we need a new name for this language that will help people to disassociate it from the old language. After all, if it's called Perl 6, it must be just one step away from Perl 5, right? But it's not, it's on a whole different plane, and we need a name for it that makes that clear. Obviously, we can't call it "COBOL 2003" or "Espresso Con Panna" because people will be seriously confused. We need a name that evokes not only where the language is, but also where it has come from.

Here's your chance for notoriety fame and fortune! Come up with a new name for this wonderful language, and give a brief rationale of your suggestion in a reply below. I'll disqualify myself, but here are a few to get you started:

++Perl

Like Perl++, but it's incremented before you use it.

ECMAPerl

I mean, "JavaPerl" is just too awful to contemplate.

Perl Advanced 2003 XP

Which conveniently abbreviates to PA2K3XP. A language with an obfuscated name, even.

For extra credit, design a new logo also: a Camel on steroids, or one with its quanta superposed, or ...?

Just about every discussion of real programming I've ever read on Slashdot reminds me of my favorite quote from the least-informed Perl book I've ever read. It went something like:

If you try to assign an array to a scalar, you'll get the number of elements in the array. Hopefully this bug will be fixed in a future version. In the meantime, do $len = $#ary + 1; because it's less confusing.

MJDsays you
can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo!
I run a Win32 PPM
repository for perl 5.6x+5.8x. I take requests.
** The Third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.

In that case, we should call it EPerl, for Expanded Perl. I'm just a stickler for proper abbreviation and spelling, I suppose -- and quite thoroughly over all this annoying "X makes it sell better!" nonsense.

Of course, we could make it "hip" by calling it ePerl, I suppose. While I'm at it, we could offer it in fruity color schemes and call it iPerl. On the other hand, Apple probably already has that name registered as a trademark.

Unfortunately, the "X-factor" is a relatively well-known and verified marketing gimmick. The "eFactor" is probably passe as a relic of the dotBomb era. The "iFactor" has some merit, but runs afoul of both Apple and variable naming conventions for integer types.

How about: "The language formerly known as {unpronouncable symbol}" ... carries a certain mystique, and stylishly reduces to simply "The Language."

Warning: Unless otherwise stated, code is untested. Do not use without understanding. Code is posted in the hopes it is useful, but without warranty. All copyrights are relinquished into the public domain unless otherwise stated. I am not an angel. I am capable of error, and err on a fairly regular basis. If I made a mistake, please let me know (such as by replying to this node).

Hm, chip is/was leading a project named Topaz, that was going to be a re-implementation of Perl 5 in C++. Doesn't look he's working on it actively, though: the latest download version is dated April 2000.

MJDsays you
can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo!
I run a Win32 PPM
repository for perl 5.6x+5.8x. I take requests.
** The Third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.

1) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible
3) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke.

If it wasn't for the fact that Opal is already taken, I'd be all over this one. I like it a lot, both because of the thematic progression from "pe(a)rl" to "opal" and the "object perl" reference, which is one I've been thinking might be a good name for it.

Well, there's HTML and XHTML - why not Perl and XPerl? You need a name that associates it with older versions of Perl, yet at the same time clearly says that the new version is significantly different.

When putting a smiley right before a closing parenthesis, do you:

Use two parentheses: (Like this: :) )
Use one parenthesis: (Like this: :)
Reverse direction of the smiley: (Like this: (: )
Use angle/square brackets instead of parentheses
Use C-style commenting to set the smiley off from the closing parenthesis
Make the smiley a dunce: (:>
I disapprove of emoticons
Other